Generation Jihad

Pakistan's decades-long support for the Afghan Taliban has come back to haunt Islamabad, as fighting between the former allies intensifies along their shared border. Bill Roggio is joined by retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and Long War Journal contributor Will Selber to discuss the latest clashes, Pakistani airstrikes, and the growing threat from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan (TTP). They examine how Pakistan's pursuit of strategic depth against India drove its support for the Afghan Taliban, why the TTP's allegiance to the Taliban's supreme leader complicates Islamabad's efforts to contain the insurgency, and how Pakistan's longstanding strategy has backfired.

Bill and Will also examine Afghanistan's growing armed resistance, including a surge in attacks claimed by the Afghanistan United Front. But the resistance remains fragmented, poorly supported, and unable to hold territory. With Pakistan reportedly considering backing these groups, could Islamabad become the unlikely patron of the very forces it spent decades undermining?

A deadly attack on a Christian funeral in Jordan prompted retaliatory Jordanian airstrikes in Syria, sparking a diplomatic dispute between Amman and Damascus and raising questions about the Islamic State's involvement and the security threats emanating from southern Syria. Bill Roggio is joined by FDD Senior Research Analyst Ahmad Sharawi to discuss the killing of nine mourners, Jordan's subsequent airstrikes, and conflicting claims over whether the strikes targeted Islamic State operatives or killed civilians. They examine the evidence linking the attackers to the Islamic State, the absence of an official claim of responsibility, and why Jordan's response has strained relations with Damascus.

Bill and Ahmad also assess the deteriorating security situation in southern Syria, where Islamic State cells, local militias and competing regional interests complicate efforts to establish effective government control. With jihadists reportedly infiltrating Syria's security forces, they debate the difficult policy choices facing Washington and its regional partners: whether to work with the government of Ahmed al Sharaa, rely on previously vetted Syrian counterterrorism partners, or pursue alternative security arrangements.

The war with Iran is far from over, and the fight extends well beyond the Strait of Hormuz. Bill Roggio is joined by FDD Senior Fellow and former British Ambassador to Yemen Edmund Fitton-Brown to assess the status of the US-Iran conflict, Tehran's efforts to break the American naval blockade, and the growing role of its terrorist proxies. They discuss why the fighting in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere should be understood as interconnected theaters of a wider war rather than separate conflicts, and how Iran is exploiting its network of allies to pressure the United States and its regional partners.

Bill and Edmund also examine the Houthis' renewed offensive in Yemen, including their advance along the Red Sea coast toward the Bab al Mandeb Strait, the siege of Taiz, and the fight for the strategic city of Marib. Although Saudi-backed forces have slowed the Houthi advance, the Iranian-backed group continues to strike Saudi airports, oil infrastructure, and other economic targets. With the Houthis emerging as arguably Iran's most consequential proxy, Bill and Edmund assess the threat to Saudi Arabia's economic ambitions, the stability of the Saudi monarchy, and the consequences of treating the Houthi campaign as a separate war rather than part of Iran's broader regional strategy.

The Houthis are on the offensive in Yemen, threatening one of the world's most important maritime chokepoints and bringing the war back to Saudi Arabia's doorstep. Bill Roggio is joined by FDD research analyst and Long War Journal contributor Bridget Toomey to discuss the Iranian-backed group's renewed campaign to conquer Yemen, its advances along the Red Sea coast, and its siege of the strategic city of Taiz. They examine the battle for control of the Bab al Mandeb Strait, why the Houthis have largely refrained from attacking international shipping, and how missile and drone strikes against Saudi airports and energy infrastructure are designed to pressure Riyadh into concessions.

Bill and Bridget also assess the Saudi-led response, the divisions among Yemen's anti-Houthi forces, and the limits of international support for Saudi Arabia. While Turkey, Pakistan, and other partners have offered defensive assistance, few appear willing to confront the Houthis directly. Meanwhile, Iran's support for the Houthis and its coordination with Iraqi militias have helped transform a once-local insurgency into a regional threat. The Houthis may not be capable of destabilizing the Saudi monarchy in the near term. However, their campaign threatens Riyadh's economic ambitions and raises a larger question: Can Saudi Arabia contain an increasingly powerful enemy on its southern border without a more decisive international response?

The world's most critical shipping lanes are becoming battlegrounds as Iran targets commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Houthis threaten shipping through the Bab al Mandab, and Russia and Ukraine wage an escalating maritime war in the Black Sea. Generation Jihad host Bill Roggio is joined by Dr. Sal Mercogliano, host of What's Going On With Shipping?, to discuss how these conflicts are disrupting global trade, driving up energy prices, and threatening the freedom of navigation. They examine Iran's efforts to undermine US-led shipping operations in the Persian Gulf, the Houthis' renewed campaign against Saudi shipping, and the mounting economic costs of keeping vital sea lanes open.

In the Black Sea, Ukraine is targeting Russia's commercial shipping and maritime infrastructure, while Russia retaliates against Ukrainian ports and merchant vessels, including ships operating near NATO territory. Bill and Sal discuss how drones, missiles, and economic warfare are transforming naval operations, the challenges facing the US Navy in sustaining a prolonged maritime campaign, and the growing danger that these seemingly separate conflicts could converge into a wider war. 

Three years after Hezbollah entered the war against Israel, the Iranian-backed terrorist group has suffered devastating losses, including much of its senior leadership, command structure, and military infrastructure. But Hezbollah remains a formidable force, and its decision to join Hamas's war against Israel may prove to be one of the greatest strategic miscalculations in the group's history.

FDD Senior Fellow David Daoud joins Generation Jihad host Bill Roggio to assess Hezbollah's ability to survive, rebuild, and avoid a strategic defeat despite Israel's significant tactical victories. They examine how Hezbollah exploits Lebanon's sectarian political system, relies on its Shiite support base, and leverages political allies and social networks to preserve its arsenal and buy time to regenerate.

Five years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban is stronger than ever, Al Qaeda continues to operate under its protection, and Pakistan is learning the hard way that supporting jihadists comes with a price. Bill Roggio is joined by retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and Long War Journal contributor Will Selber to assess the state of the Taliban's Islamic Emirate, the fractured and ineffective Afghan resistance, and the continued presence of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State's Khorasan Province. They also dismantle the persistent myth of a divided Taliban and examine why the jihadist regime faces little meaningful opposition to its rule.

Across the border, Pakistan is confronting a resurgent Taliban insurgency fueled by the same jihadist networks its military and intelligence services spent decades nurturing. Roggio and Selber examine the growing threat from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan (TTP), the emergence of former Pakistani allies among its enemies, and Islamabad's increasingly futile reliance on airstrikes inside Afghanistan. The irony is difficult to ignore: Pakistan helped the Taliban defeat the United States and overthrow the Afghan government, only to find itself battling an insurgency operating from Taliban-controlled territory. The question is no longer whether Pakistan's jihadist strategy has backfired, but how much worse the consequences will become.

Was Operation Enduring Freedom—the US invasion of Afghanistan launched in October 2001 to kill or capture Al Qaeda’s leaders and oust the Taliban from power—a success or a failure? With the Taliban currently in control of Afghanistan and Al Qaeda operating training camps throughout the country, the answer seems obvious.

Generation Jihad host Bill Roggio, an FDD senior fellow and the editor of FDD’s Long War Journal, talks with terrorism expert Thomas Joscelyn about the failures of Operation Enduring Freedom and how they cascaded into the terrorism threats we now face from Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other jihadist groups. Bill and Tom also discuss Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza, and reports that he may be alive and at the helm of Al Qaeda, as well as Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa’s refusal to answer a question about whether he renounced his oath of allegiance to Al Qaeda.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Washington, shaking hands and smiling as the People’s Liberation Army prepares for aggression in the Pacific. Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to try to play the victim while continuing his brutal invasion of Ukraine. The regime in Iran is severely weakened but continues to menace commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. And North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is responding to American concessions and South Korean conciliation with more ballistic missile launches.

Some Americans are familiar with the threats China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea pose individually. But how are these adversaries helping each other, and how does American action or inaction and strength or weakness in one region or against one adversary impact the others?

To explore these questions and more on Generation Jihad, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) H.R. McMaster and Ryan Brobst join guest host Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). H.R. McMaster is a former US national security advisor to President Trump and serves as chair of the Advisory Board for CMPP, where Ryan Brobst is deputy director.

Hezbollah no longer owns every road in South Lebanon. In mixed villages that kept the group out and brought the Lebanese Army in, daily life looks almost normal—and Israel’s deployment in Lebanon bends around instead of through them. This could mark the start of Lebanon asserting its sovereignty in the south, spelling the beginning of the end of Hezbollah’s demise. But given Beirut’s inertia, it’s equally plausible Hezbollah will adapt and wait it out.

Generation Jihad guest host David Daoud, an FDD senior fellow focused on Lebanon and Hezbollah, talks with Lina Khatib, an associate fellow in Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, about her July trip through that pocket, why the 2006 war never put the army in charge of the border, and whether Beirut can take Hezbollah’s weapons now that the group is weaker and Assad is gone.

This episode digs into the Lebanese military’s limited seizure of weapons, the fear that a forced disarmament will spark another civil war, and the Shiite community that Hezbollah still dominates through sincere conviction, material benefits, and intimidation. Daoud and Khatib ask whether Hezbollah is limping toward the exit or adapting in the stasis, and whether talks with Israel are the start of a real peace—or just another pause before the next war.